It can be difficult for an automobile claims adjuster to correctly determine a total loss amount for a motor vehicle that sustained physical damage in an accident because the calculations require using multiple types of data that depend on, for example, state rules and/or regulations. Each state of the United States of America has its own rules and regulations governing the threshold for recognizing a vehicle total loss, and its own tax rates that must be applied. In addition, the insurance company has its own internal insurance company guidelines. Thus, the automobile insurance claims adjusters are required to recognize and understand all of the different types of data required to arrive at a total loss amount, and are further expected to utilize up-to-date information when performing the calculations. Thus, an insurance claims adjuster may utilize a spreadsheet, for example, to accumulate the necessary data to perform the total loss calculations, and may also use multiple databases that contain state rules and/or regulations, state sales taxes, and internal insurance company guidelines. However, such data for the total loss calculations is subject to change over time, for example, as one or more states change or update vehicle total loss requirements and/or their state sales tax rates. Accordingly, there is a need for an automobile insurance total loss calculator that provides prompts for a claims adjuster to enter all the necessary data involving a particular automobile insurance accident claim, that provides current state data, insurance company data and any other required data, and that performs vehicle total loss calculations quickly and accurately.
The present inventors have recognized a need for an automated method and system that can quickly and correctly calculate total loss amounts for vehicles involved in accidents in any particular state, wherein the physical damage accounts for the total loss of the vehicle.